Editing Exploring the Halls of Arden Vul: Institutions (section)

===Benevolent Brotherhood===
The Brotherhood is the empire-wide thieves’ guild, active in all major Archontean cities and towns. Members are ranked: Little Brothers are the rank and file thieves; Brothers run cells within a given area; Elder Brothers are those with a certain geographic jurisdiction and authority over 7-10 cells; Eldest Brothers are a shadowy handful of senior thieves who coordinate empire-wide activities as needed.

In sizable population centers (e.g., Narsileon), the Brotherhood operates a public ‘front’, where those in need of the Brotherhood’s services may deposit requests for service with a named Brother (or with a randomly-chosen one, if none are known to the petitioner).

The imperial authorities normally do not intervene in the daily affairs of the Brotherhood, leading many to speculate that the Brotherhood pays regular ‘tithes’ to avoid scrutiny.